Five- or Six-String Players: How much would you miss your low B, really?

[Willie5String]

I mainly play six string basses now, but I find myself almost never using the low B or high C strings. Since I don't really use them that much, I'm thinking about selling my sixes and replacing them with some four-strings. I know the old thing about Jaco only needing four strings, but I'm not Jaco and neither are most of you. So those of you who consider yourselves five or six (or more) string players, how often do you use your low B strings? Would you miss them if you were forced to play four string basses? What genre do you mostly play?

I would miss my low B a lot! If you play in G and do any root and fifth stuff you’re hosed without it. I personally think a low B is great and allows us non-Jaco guys a truck load of options to play low.

 

[lordradish]

I'd miss it way too much, my technique and style just use it all of the time. I have zero interest in playing a 4.

 

[Koshchei]

I have a love-hate relationship with the low B. It saves me from string noise inducing position shifts (more notes under hand), and occasionally I REALLY need it, but for the most part, it's a compromise that doesn't sound as good as the other strings and adds a bunch of ledger lines to written music that I'm not as familiar with reading - I tend to go through the music beforehand and add the accidentals from the key signature so that it doesn't slow me down.

 

[G On Bass]

5 player here..

It depends on the project. In my current project I rarely use the low B string. In most others I used notes on the low B constantly. Regardless though, I am used to the 5 and would rather have it and not need it than the other way around. But I would have no need for the higher string on a 6 or a 5 strung E-C.

 

[groooooove]

depends on the gig, but i do use both of mine quite a bit.

 

[BurningSkies]

I feel like these kind of threads come up and the conceit behind the concept is 'come on, y'all just admit you don't REALLY need 5 strings,' no matter how the OP is worded. And I feel like there's usually a couple common things (not everyone but these a lot).

-People who think a B string is really only there for the 5 notes below E
-People who have had 5 strings but never made a conceptual change from playing a 4 string.

At this point, 15 years into playing only 5's and playing predominantly original music nearly everything I've written on bass for the past decade and a half is written on and for a 5 string. Could I sit down and re-arrange everything for 4? Well, most things. But they'd probably be a bear to play and you'd have to do some work arounds. A few songs, you would have to re-tune to make work.

When I sat out a bunch of shows for surgery about a year and a half ago, the sub that we hired didn't have a 5. It ended up being way more sensible for me to give him one of my basses for the run rather than have him learn the material and then have move a bunch of it down into the skinny end of the neck where you could and/or sacrifice any material that did pin on having notes lower than E. Often times moving the material around on the neck like that also screws with the tone and timbre of the line as well.

Ergonomically, the addition of the 5th (lower) string allowed me to move my 'center' of playing up the neck, so less reach and less movement up and down the neck.

 

[kleinenenten]

I don’t miss it terribly. I play metal, and almost always use the B. The high C, only occasionally gets used, but does get used. I could likely deal with it being gone, as my main bass is a 5 string these days. I have one of each, a 4, 2 5s, and a 6 string bass. My plan is to set them each up for different tunings and tones one day.

 

[Bonafide]

Yes I would. There are too many 'feel' changes from 4 to 6 that cannot be ignored or discounted. Remarkable and significant. And with a 5ver...that low B for myself is about the comfort, thumb rest, fretted E, D and C and the upper register access.

 

[Bonafide]

I feel like these kind of threads come up and the conceit behind the concept is 'come on, y'all just admit you don't REALLY need 5 strings,' no matter how the OP is worded. And I feel like there's usually a couple common things (not everyone but these a lot).

-People who think a B string is really only there for the 5 notes below E
-People who have had 5 strings but never made a conceptual change from playing a 4 string.

Ergonomically, the addition of the 5th (lower) string allowed me to move my 'center' of playing up the neck, so less reach and less movement up and down the neck.

^^^

 

[spector_boogie]

Well, significantly. I'd have to relearn just about every song I know... I prefer to play on the B and E strings, as opposed to the E and A, just as a preference.

With a 5 (or even 6), you can do everything a 4 can, then just extra, so not sure why you'd want/need to be more limited in your amount of strings? I have no problem with string noise or movement on my B when I'm chugging on the E either, it just takes practice to mute that string when not in use. Really not terribly difficult.

 

[bucephylus]

I mainly play six string basses now, but I find myself almost never using the low B or high C strings. Since I don't really use them that much, I'm thinking about selling my sixes and replacing them with some four-strings. I know the old thing about Jaco only needing four strings, but I'm not Jaco and neither are most of you. So those of you who consider yourselves five or six (or more) string players, how often do you use your low B strings? Would you miss them if you were forced to play four string basses? What genre do you mostly play?

I will mainly play any genre where there are good gigs. The specification of the instrument for my needs depends on the gigs. The B string is mainly useful for really low notes for certain genres as well as for transposing on the fly to accomodate different vocal ranges. A 4 string with the HipShot can certainly get a lot of gigs done; and that type of instrument gets most of my gigs. But, I also use 5’s regularly for certain vocalists. Just mainly depends on the gig. I look at it as taking the right tool for the job, rather than as some kind of personal expression on my part.

 

[jdh3000]

If you already have the basses and CAN play them, I don't see any reason to get rid of them.

I play four only, but if I were a 5 or 6 string player, I probably wouldn't change... for the low D or Eb if for nothing else.

 

[bucephylus]

....With a 5 (or even 6), you can do everything a 4 can, then just extra, so not sure why you'd want/need to be more limited in your amount of strings?

Respectfully, this is not entirely true. There are actually certain tunes, where the bassline was written on a drop tuned 4; which, you CAN play them on the 5, but, they really don’t lay right. Velvet Revolver’s Slither is one example. Of course, you could detune the E on the 5, if you have adequate time between songs in the set. But, that doesn’t always happen either.

What you wrote is true for many gigs. Still there are exceptions to be aware of.

 

[chris_b]

Good thread, I'm looking at moving up to a 6 string from 4 and skipping 5 all together. I'm a long time noodler but only recently started studying. I want to master theory and do everything from rhythms to solo. I figure why not just get the 6, even if I'm mostly playing the middle 4 of I'm feeling it and wanna keep going one way or another it'll be there.

My take on the guys moving from 4 strings to 6 strings, you'll still have a 5 string bass under your finger tips as soon as you put on that 6 string. . . . and a 4 string. And studying your instrument is a great road to take. I wish I'd done that when I was younger!

 

[beaglesandbass]

Right now? Not at all

In my old band, I used the low B almost every song whether it was resting my thumb on it or playing notes on it.

 

[And I]

I'm pretty comfortable on either a 4 or a 5 string (as long as the 5 has 19mm spacing).

 

[Ken Morgan]

I’m happy with 4, use the B only as emphasis and/or starting points for walking to the root.

never have I thought “my contribution sucks because I was playing a 4 string” though..

 

[Element Zero]

I’d never go back to strictly playing a 4 string unless I had to due to physical limitations.

 

[ArtechnikA]

I started on 5.
All my basses have at least 5 strings, even the electric upright.
I've actually never played a 4-string bass.
There are a couple of songs where I'll play an open E, usually for fingering convenience, but my 'normal' position is at the B string 5th.
This weekend, when I played with some blues guys who tuned to Eb, all I had to change was a 1-fret shift.
Playing bluegrass, there's always a convenient 5th one string down.
My #1 bass is a fretless 6; I don't get up to the C much, yet, but it's there, ready, for when I might need it.
I suppose I'm in the camp that says 'get one really good instrument that can handle everything you might need, and learn it really, really well...'

 

[Razman]

It sure would make my Conklin GT-7 look funny. Not sure what I would do to fill in the gap between the E and low F#.